


A Halo 5 Correction.

by BunnyJess



Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: 343i THIS is what you should have done, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Blue Team, Eventual Happy Ending, Exuberant Witness is Authors Favourite...along with Kelly-087, Exuberant Witness is a cinnamon roll, F/M, Fireteam Osiris, Fluff, Gen, I love Exuberant Witness, I reject your canon, John Needs A Hug, John is sad, Kelly is too pure for this world, Pets, Safe Sane and Consensual, Smut, The Author Regrets Nothing, and substitute my own, correction fic, she is the best Monitor EVER, the follow-up Halo 4 deserved, what Halo 5 SHOULD have been
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2018-09-29
Packaged: 2019-07-18 23:31:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16128962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunnyJess/pseuds/BunnyJess
Summary: Blue Team are on a simple mission to search and destroy Argent Moon when they get a message from a friend thought lost. After ignoring Infinity's orders they set out on a more personal mission. Along the way they make new friends, meet old foes, find the missing team member they'd thought lost forever...and potentially gain a new, powerful pet along the way.(The Halo 5 343i wrote was all wrong...this fic is what should have happened after the events above New Phoenix.)





	A Halo 5 Correction.

**Author's Note:**

> If you learn anything from reading this...I hope it's just how much Halo 5 made me fall in love with the most innocent of Monitors to ever exist.

Argent Moon’s reactor was going critical and they didn’t have much time left to leave, John activated his long range communications, “Sierra 117 to Infinity, Argent Moon scuttled. I’ve reassigned Blue team destination Meridian, potential contact from Cortana.” The response came back almost immediately, “Negative 117, another team is already being prepped to deal with her.” Fred turned to face him. “What the hell?” He whispered but the shock in his voice was still clear. The Infinity came back over the radio; “You’re to return to Infinity immediately.” What came next surprised the rest of Blue team, yet they all expected it. “Negative Infinity, I don’t like it.”

The ramp of the Prowler lowered and Kelly turned to walk inside, “Whoever they are let’s get to Meridian before they do.” John wasn’t expecting this, Cortana was his problem to solve and she was risking her career and her life by joining him. As if she had been reading his mind Linda too turned up the ramp, “No need to do this by yourself Chief.” He could hardly believe this, he knew they were his family but surely they wouldn’t all go against orders just because he had. An explosion rippled through the crumbling ship sending pieces of wall and ceiling shooting through the loading bay. Fred walked past him onto the Prowler giving John a reassuring tap on the elbow, “They won’t court-martial all of us right.” John took a moment to accept that this was now out of his hands and they were all coming with him before jogging up the ramp and into the prowler. As the ramp closed before him he focussed himself on his new goal, getting Cortana back to safety and completing his mission to protect her.

The journey to Meridian didn’t take as long as John had been expecting, the tech in this new Prowler was clearly very advanced. “Chief, arrival at Meridian in ten minutes.” Kelly sounded nervous but he knew why, he’d been pushing Blue hard so as to keep himself busy but now that Cortana was potentially still out there she was worried he would push himself past his limit. If he was honest John was a little worried himself, but he wouldn’t put his team or the mission in harm’s way needlessly. “Roger Kelly.” He switched to the squad channel, “Ready up Blue team, arrival at Meridian in nine minutes so let’s be ready to hit the dirt.” As he turned to inspect his assault rifle Kelly chimed back in on the radio, “Chief some coordinates just came in on the narrow band, it’s not UNSC but had the right encryption schemes.” John considered this new information. “Plot a course for those coordinates; it could be Cortana leading us in.”

The touched down at the entrance to a mine, this planet had been glassed by the Covenant during the war and the effort to return it to its former glory was well underway. “Okay Blue team let’s move out. We don’t know what kind of reception we’re going to get so stay frosty.” They moved quickly but cautiously from the Prowler to the mine entrance.

“The coordinates we were sent are below the surface, should be a way down inside.” Linda always had an assuredness to her tone that gave John confidence. The day Halsey had managed to save her from death had been one of the most important days in John’s life. “Okay Blue team, move in.” Fred took up rear guard as they moved through the mine. Not once did they meet any other human or other wise and once they came across the entrance to a Forerunner area they knew they were on the right tracks.

They entered a large open cavern surrounded by Forerunner architecture with a larger than normal door at the end of it. Just before they reached the door however an enormous Promethean construct peeled out of the wall above them and landed in front of the door. The simian form was well over sixteen feet tall by John’s reckoning and was armed with at least one large and intimidating Forerunner bladelike weapon and a blue glow. “I am the Warden Eternal; I stand in service to Cortana.” This thing was dangerous but didn’t seem to care that all of Blue team had their weapons trained on it. “You have been approved for passage on the Guardian; please make your way inside. It will be ready to depart in the morning.” John lowered his weapon and the others copied him. “Sounds fun, shall we?” Fred nodded at John and he returned the gesture as Kelly and Linda marched through the doorway and inside the enormous Forerunner structure.

Luxurious Forerunner living quarters had been laid out for them inside the Guardian and a selection of human food supplies were being kept in part of their accommodation. “Looks like we’re going to be here for the best part of a day team so make yourself comfortable.” Fred looked over at Linda “Wanna help me get out of this? I took a hit on argent moon and my motion tracker’s been playing up a little.” Linda moved to help Fred out of his armour, taking out the field removal kit from the bag slung over her shoulder. “That’s a good idea; we should all take our armour off. We don’t know when we’ll next get the chance to.” John remarked before Kelly grabbed his hand and pulled him into one of the adjoining bedrooms.

“John, are you okay?” Kelly pulled off her helmet and rested it on the small table next to them. Even though he’d spent a whole four years in cryosleep she still looked younger than him and still just as beautiful as she always had been. “I’m fine Kelly I just…” Kelly interrupted him, “Like hell you are John! We can all see it, hell we all feel it. Not that we can’t handle it but all these missions aren’t like you.” Slowly she reached up to him and pulled off his helmet. John had aged the worst out of all of them but that’s what happens when you take the weight of every Spartan death as a personal failing. Yet Kelly still couldn’t help but fall for his deep brown eyes even if the dark skin surrounding them was now cracked and worn from years of continuous war.

Kelly touched her hand gently to his cheek, moving her thumb slowly across his skin and watching him melt to her touch. “You need to let us help you; you need to let _me_ help you.” She cupped his chin between her thumb and her finger, tilting his face to look at hers, “John you need to relax and let off steam.” He closed his eyes, finally admitting the truth, “I know Kel, I’m just scared of what will happen if I do.” Kelly pulled on his chin and pressed her lips gently to his, “You won’t have to do it alone.” She said gently barely allowing their lips to part. Kelly then pulled out her field removal kit and started to take off John’s armour and he then returned the favour.

Once Kelly was free from her armour and it was laid out neatly she turned to John and threw her arms around his neck pulling them into another kiss, only this one was more passionate and intense. John put his hands on Kelly’s hips and lifted her small but powerful frame off the ground so she could wrap her legs around his waist. They hadn’t been together in years and slowly but surely those years of wanting and craving for the other flowed out of them. In a well-practiced move, Kelly slid down his body pulling his boring standard issue underwear with her and unveiling his growing cock.

She pushed John back onto the surface behind him which ended up being a lot softer than he expected as it was in fact a bed, and knelt between his legs. Kelly leant forwards and placed her lips around the tip and sucked gently, teasing him and causing him to grow quicker. John let out a whimper having not felt any pleasure since the last time they shared a bed. Unable to hold back any longer she took him completely into her mouth and sank right down to the base. John threw his hands down in fists as pleasure shot through him like a .50 cal. Kelly felt him fully harden against the back of her throat and drew herself back up his length before sinking right back down again.

The strong thick muscle tensed in response to her and Kelly was glad that all this time between sessions hadn’t resulted in her regaining her gag reflex. Slowly she began to bob her head along his shaft, bring in a hand now as the other one moved underneath her own underwear and toyed with her clit. She could tell John was holding back, that he was struggling to stop himself coming already but she knew he’d be able to go again as John had always been able to go at least once more after he’d cum. Kelly tightened her grip and really started working the head of his cock, eager for him to blow in her mouth. Sure enough not a minute later it happened, “Oh fuck!” John cried and a monstrous load coated this inside of Kelly’s mouth.

She waited for the very last drop to squeeze out of him before she stood up; she pulled off her bra and lowered her underwear then cradled his hips and leant over him. He moaned deeply as she kissed him, allowing his cum to flow between them before he swallowed it all for himself. “Holy crap Kelly I forgot how good you are!” A filthy smile spread over her face as she licked her lips, “What makes you think I’m done yet?” Her hips slowly started to grind down on his and he could feel her wetness on his recovering cock and slowly it started to rise again. “Mmmm that’s what I want baby. You gunna give it to me good?” John reached up and kissed her roughly, “You bet I am!” He said fiercely, pulling out of the kiss and then standing up with her.

John pushed her against the wall and lifted her leg above her head. He stroked the length of his cock ensuring it was again fully hard and then teased her open hole with the wide tip of his cock, parting her lips and pushing in ever so slightly. Kelly bit her lip in desperation “Don’t piss around John just fuck me!” He needed no more invitation and plunged himself all the way into her. She gasped as he filled her eager pussy and started to slide in and out of her. After all these years she still couldn’t get over how good it felt having John inside her and feeling him fill her up with every stroke, the emptiness she felt on the backstroke drove her wild wanting him inside her forever.

John sped up whilst kissing down her neck and biting into her muscular shoulder. Kelly moaned again and lifted her other leg off the ground; John responded instantly and grabbed hold of her ass to support her. He slammed in harder now sensing Kelly couldn’t hold back just like he couldn’t before. Rivers flowed down his thighs as he was now fucking her as fast as he could, his rock hard cock a blur of motion as he tried to gain more purchase on her ass. Suddenly she tightened around him and her body started to convulse, her pleasure induced shivers taking over body as the strongest orgasm she’d had for a long time coursed through her.

John carried on fucking, pushing her through the orgasm and straight into another as she was unable to stop them like a breaking damn. As Kelly hit her third climax, her eyes now fully rolled back in her head and her limbs all but useless to her, John started to cum too. He pulled out and allowed his cum to shoot all up his and Kelly’s bodies and covering them both. Kelly’s heavy panting started to slow slightly as she began to regain control of her body, with shaking legs John carried her over to what he assumed was a bed and collapsed onto it, allowing Kelly to lay on top of him.

Their breathing slowed and Kelly found some strength in her arms to push up off of John slightly and make eye contact, “Feeling a bit less stressed now?” She panted with a coy smile. “I can’t even really remember what stress is right now Kel.” John laughed as his entire body shook. As Kelly peeled herself off of her love she went lay down next to him and cuddled into his side. Kelly felt the pulls of sleep tugging at her consciousness and decided she’d allow herself to submit, knowing John was nearly asleep too.

When John woke Kelly was asleep, he nudged her slightly and watched as her sleepy eyes blinked at him and her smile take its place again. “Sleep well beautiful?” She asked, “You bet I did. Thank you Kelly, I don’t think I’d realised how bad I was getting. I’ll talk to the others; once we’ve washed.” Then it occurred to John he didn’t know where the showers were but just as he thought it part of the wall opened up and another room appeared. “I hope to all gods that that’s the bathroom!” Kelly joked. As John stood to inspect it he saw that is was indeed a shower and they both headed off to clean up.

When they re-entered the main space Linda was sat cross-legged in front of a small table with Nornfang disassembled before her whilst she cleaned it, “Morning John, morning Kelly.” She said without even looking away from what she was doing. “Morning Linda, sleep well?”

“Not as well as you two.” Replied Fred from the other side of the room, he was preparing a hearty breakfast for them in a kitchen that hadn’t been there before. John blushed a little, “Look guys, I know I’ve been driving us pretty hard recently and I just want to say sorry. It’s been tough losing Cortana after it being just me and her for so long, but I’ve got you guys back and that’s far more important.” Linda had stopped cleaning and turned to face him, “We know Chief, just don’t be scared to let us help you. We’re a team and we only work as well as the weakest link remember.” She added smiling at him, “Just don’t expect us to help you like Kels does, I’m not down for that.” They all started laughing as John blushed again, now that the air had been cleared things felt normal for the first time in years.

Almost as soon as they finished eating a strange voice spoke almost through the walls. “The Guardian is now leaving for Genesis, arrival time in six human hours.” They all looked at each other in shock. “Well I guess this is it then, time to find out what happened to Cortana.” Kelly squeezed John’s hand as she spoke and he smiled back at her. “Let’s gear up team, I don’t want any surprises when we arrive so let’s start formulating some plans.” Fred nodded in agreement and the moved off to get their armour on, it was a lot harder to get on than off to John was glad for the six hours they had. Mind you, six hours until they found out how Cortana was still alive sounded like no time at all, but whatever happened John knew he couldn’t wish for a better team behind him.

The time seemed to fly by and before they knew it the voice announced that they would be arriving in 20 minutes. Blue team did their final checks on weapons and armour and prepared themselves to exit the Guardian. John felt the unmistakeable lurch in his stomach that signalled they’d exited slipspace and re-entered normal space. Just as his stomach was settling however they were transported to the surface of the planet by a slipspace portal. Blue team worked to take in their surroundings and found they were in no danger so relaxed, they set off along the walkway they were on taking in their bizarre surroundings. The alien flora and fauna were unlike anything they’d seen before, yet stunningly beautiful.

Another slipspace portal appeared and another Guardian appeared in the cloudy sky above them. “There’s another one.” Kelly seemed concerned as to why Cortana would be drawing these immense constructs to her. “What’s Cortana up to, Chief? Why’d she bring us here?” Fred was right to be worried; they’d had no explanation as to why they had been brought all this way or why Cortana was collecting these Guardians to her side. John only hoped that they’d soon have all the answers they needed. “Let’s keep moving.” John replied, “When we get to Cortana, we’ll find out what’s going on here.” Blue team started off down the walkway again, headed towards some kind of Forerunner structure.

As they entered the next area something felt off and they all immediately switched on, covering each other and clearing corners as they went. John took point as they entered the building and found himself coming to a console. When they approached the console activated and chimed the Spartan II’s signature call “Olly olly oxen free”. This unsettled John and he could tell the others didn’t like it either. “What was that? It came from the console. How many years has it been since we used that signal?” Fred was right; it had been a long time since they’d needed to use it and only a handful of people knew of it, Cortana was one of the lucky few non-Spartans who did know. John ordered them to access the console and so Linda stepped forwards.

As she activated it the platform they were on began to lower through the building. As they reached the base even more of this new world was revealed to them. Contrasting colours and shapes surrounded them with almost technological looking plants growing out of hard rock and lush grass. That’s when Fred asked the question he’d been dreading answering. “Chief, back on Meridian… There was a lot of destruction.” He paused, collecting himself for the next part of his sentence, “There were civilians.”

John bowed his head slightly as they moved through the jungle, “I know.” He said with defeat creeping into his tone, Kelly jumped in to help though. “She may not have known what would happen.” She explained, not wanting to sink John further into the darkness he’d admitted to last night.

“And if she did?” Linda parried, this kind of thinking was good for the team as it meant they were prepared for all eventualities but John couldn’t help but be scared by the thought that Cortana was doing this all on purpose. “We’ll learn what’s going on once we find her.” John had to get them focussed on getting to Cortana safely, on the mission at hand, rather than speculating on Cortana’s intentions. The jungle got more and more alien as they moved through it; Fred made his discomfort known as they cracked jokes about how much their mentor Dr Halsey would’ve loved to see all of this.

Suddenly they heard the distant chattering of Grunts, Jackals and an Elite. As they approached a ledge they saw their foes, from their armour they discerned that they were part of Jul M’Dama’s Covenant and therefore a threat. “Blue two, pound them out.” Fred’s green acknowledgement light winked and he charged forwards, leaping off the edge. He hovered momentarily in the air as he judged the best placed to impact then the thrusters on his suit propelled him towards the Elite dead centre and his fist travelled straight through and hit the rock beneath him. Fred pulled his arm back out of the Elite and drew his combat knife, planting it firmly in the skull of a Jackal stood next him frozen in fear. The rest of blue team appeared over the top of the ledge and picked off the remaining Covenant with ease.

“What are the Covenant doing here?” Asked Linda, “They seemed confused. I don’t think they’ve been here long.” Kelly was right; something about their presence here seemed accidental, like they weren’t sure where they were. As they rounded the corner and into the next opening they encountered more Covenant, they moved through the Jungle clearing area after area of Covenant and encountering another console that chimed their signal. When they cleared the building they headed down a slope towards a light bridge and another Guardian appeared above them. “Have the Covenant been coming through with them?” Kelly’s question made sense. “Stands to reason, any ships caught in the slipspace bubble would be pulled through.” John surmised that Linda was right; there couldn’t be any other explanation.

The light bridge activated without warning and they cautiously headed across. Once they were all across it deactivated and that was when Fred noticed the hoard of dead Covenant ahead of them. “What did this?” Not much scared Blue team, but it would take a lot of firepower to subdue this many armed Covenant warriors. They brought their weapons to bare and made their way through the mutilated corpses and dismembered limbs. When they rounded the corner they saw the familiar shape of the Warden Eternal only now he was glowing bright orange.

“Take me to Cortana.” John instructed it. “Not just yet.” It said before disappearing into its own slipspace bubble. John walked forwards into the building behind where the Warden had been stood, Kelly looked over to Linda who gave her a reassuring nod and they followed him in. The structure opened up into more Forerunner structure mixed into the jungle-scape they’d witnessed before. Then Promethean soldiers and watchers appeared and began to engage them. “Open fire, take out the watchers first then eliminate the soldiers!” John barked and Blue team sprang into action.

Blue team encountered more and more Promethean resistance as they moved through the Jungle. “These Prometheans are lit up orange.” Fred stated, “Your mission report from Requiem stated that they only turned orange after the Diadact took control of them.” John took a moment to remember the moment they’d switched colours on Requiem and the trouble the Diadact had caused him after that point. “They never could confirm the kill could they Chief?” Linda inquired. “No.” John replied, “And I’m starting to think this has something to do with it all.”

They entered a large open valley and several slipspace bubbles appeared all around them. “This can’t be good.” Kelly had picked up a Forerunner Lightrifle and was selecting targets. In the centre of the valley the Warden appeared, for a moment John hoped they would now be able to pass safely through the valley. A large bolt struck John in the chest and sent him backpedalling as his shields failed, Blue team flanked him and returned fire.

“That shot came from the Warden.” Fred screamed, “What the hell, I thought he was on our side?” John opened fire on a soldier and exploded it, “It looks like we’re on our own from this point on team. Eliminate all hostiles.” Slowly they worked their way through the seemingly endless waves of Prometheans, eventually managing to take down the Warden depleting their ammo in the process.

They moved off, now with Forerunner weapons, towards another structure which John felt would contain another console for them to activate. “Chief, hello?” It was Cortana “John! You made it! I can’t believe you’re here?” John froze for a second; barely believing that Cortana was still active. “Where are we Cortana?” he asked. “Forerunner planet, designation Genesis. Chief I need your help; it wasn’t just me who survived…” Her line cut off, but now John knew she was operating and in need of his help. “John she said she wasn’t the only one who made it through, you know what that means…” Kelly was right, this almost confirmed their theory that the Diadact had survived the events over New Phoenix, but what did he want with Cortana.

They moved into the building and activated the final console which activated another bridge and opened a doorway. As they moved through the caves that had been revealed to them they encountered more Promethean resistance, luckily there had been two Forerunner Phaetons for them to use as air support and they moved quickly through the caverns. When they reached the final platform which took them over a gravity canon and onto a walkway leading to another large door, as they walked through they were met once again with a vast open space leading to a Forerunner building that was lit up by the large floating rings above it that seemed to be forming some kind of portal.

“Be on the lookout team, now the Diadact knows we’re here he won’t stop until we’re dead.” John was concerned, the Diadact’s hatred of humanity was unfathomable and even millennia of forced meditation hadn’t dulled his anger. “Hello!” Blue team swivelled and surrounded their new target. A small hovering globe illuminated by a purple light had appeared behind them “I am 031 Exuberant Witness; I am the monitor of the Genesis instillation.” John lowered his weapon, the last time he encountered a monitor it murdered his friend. This one however seemed to mean them no harm. “What is your purpose Exuberant Witness?” Fred asked, “I am here to help you, I was in charge of the entire planet until the Ur Diadact arrived.”

So it was confirmed at last, the Diadact had survived and was now enacting a plan to eradicate humanity again. “You don’t seem too happy about this?” Kelly was right, John too had picked up a slightly disgruntled tone from the Forerunner monitor, this could be an opening for them. “When the Diadact arrived he immediately accessed the domain and from it he pulled a human construct that he’d altered. Since then he’s had the construct taking over my systems and shutting me out.” The little monitor bobbed in what seemed like an angry manner, “This is my facility and now I am limited to opening doors!” Kelly stepped forwards “This human construct, is it working for the Diadact or being controlled by him?”  
“Oh definitely controlled by him, from what I could tell of my initial scan of it the Diadact has put restrictions on its functionality and creativity. He’s mostly using it for its processing capabilities and knowledge of Human information.”

Blue team shared a look; this meant that there was still hope of salvaging Cortana. It sounded like the Diadact had found a way to either postpone or solve her rampancy and was now using her knowledge to find Humanities weaknesses. “So Exuberant Witness?” Asked Kelly, “Yes friendly human female?” It bobbed cheerily. “Do you have any access to Genesis’ systems still?” Exuberant Witness paused for a moment, “I have limited access but access none-the-less.”  
“Exuberant could you send an encrypted message to the construct? We think she led us here but we need to know if it was her or if it’s a trap set by the Diadact?”

“Just one moment please humans.” Kelly turned to the others and spoke on the squad line “Isn’t this AI adorable?!” She squeaked as John held back a laugh, “Just be careful, I’ve seen those things turn but keep talking to it Kel. It seems to like you.” Kelly scoffed, “Exuberant loves me John, I think I might keep her.” John ignored the comment and was about to ask Exuberant about her progress when she beat him to it. “Good news Humans, I have made contact with your Cortana and it appears the Diadact is unaware. Oh this is exhilarating!” Exuberant wobbled in the air with her excitement.

“Okay, can you ask her how and why she made contact with me back on Argent Moon?” The glow of Exuberant’s purple light dulled ever so slightly again, she was clearly having to work hard to get these messages to Cortana so John was going to have to be quick and precise as the Diadact could turn up at any moment. “Cortana says that it was her that made contact. When the Diadact reconstructed her within the Domain he placed considerable restrictions on her but she was able to find a back door and get a message to you.” John felt his heart rate increase as Kelly stepped closer to Exuberant, taking John’s hand in hers, “Is there any way we can rescue her and escape this place?”  
“She was thinking the same thing, if you get into the Domain she can guide you through the extraction process although you will need my help.” John squeezed Kelly’s hand, “Then let’s get there, double time Blue team.

Blue team sprinted down the slope and towards the Gateway as Exuberant had called it. Just as they were approaching the plaza before it a swarm of Promethean crawlers, soldiers and knights materialised and opened fire on them. “Take cover and neutralise all targets with extreme force!” John rose from behind cover and sprayed three round bursts into the heads of a group of crawlers, wiping them out and giving Kelly a window. She sprinted through the hole John had made and dropped to her knee’s sliding along the floor thanks to the reduced friction from her shields. Kelly squeezed of two rounds into the vulnerable side-vents of the knight, two large sections of armour exploded off it exposing the delicate core on its back. Kelly passed between its spindly legs and rose, pumping another round from Oathsworn into the core of the Knight and removing it from the battle.

Fred had also sprinted from cover, firing rounds into a group of soldiers clustered together. Once he was up close and personal he drew his combat knife and set to work demolishing the soldiers while Linda provided cover fire for both Kelly and Fred, picking off targets one by one from behind her cover. John had stationed himself near Linda so she could focus on doing what she did best and was picking off the seemingly endless supply of crawlers. Eventually all targets were neutralised “I have to say Humans, that was very invigorating. I can see just what the Ur Diadact meant when he said you had a predisposition for violence. He was of course wrong to try and kill you all.”

Blue team loaded fresh clips into their weapons, “Ammo check, how we doing?” A brief pause as they rechecked their supplies. “I’ve got two more clips for Nornfang and eight for my assault rifle.” Linda announced, followed by Fred. “Yeah I’ve got four more clips on the DMR and then I’m fully stocked with my sidearm.” Given Kelly had to count individual rounds for Oathsworn John wasn’t surprised she was last to check in, “I’ve got twenty more rounds and then this Forerunner weapon I picked up so I guess we’ll see about that one.” This was good, they were in reasonably good shape for now but there was no telling how much fighting there was still left to do.

“Oh, some more Humans are approaching!” Exuberant exclaimed and Blue team swivelled instantly to face the incoming team. A group of four Spartan IV’s approached and by the looks of things they’d had a similarly difficult time of getting to this point.

A taller Spartan who looked to be male wearing a dark set of Mjolnir armour announced himself. “Sir, my name is Spartan Jameson Locke, you are all absent without leave and I need you all to come with me please.” John stepped closer to the man who despite being the tallest of his Fireteam was still considerably shorter than John. “You don’t understand the situation Spartan. Cortana has been revived somehow by the Diadact and he’s used his technology to extract sensitive information about Humanity and our defences. If we don’t get Cortana out of them and put a stop to his operation we could be talking about the end of Humanity.”

Locke, in a blatant disregard for battlefield rules, removed his helmet and stepped closer again to John. “Sir, do you have any proof of this?” John nodded towards Exuberant who was bobbing just over Kelly’s shoulder. “And you are?”  
“I am 031 Exuberant Witness, Monitor of the Genesis installation.” Locke looked confused, “Is this Genesis?” Exuberant gave another excited little wobble “Why yes it is! And the Ur Diadact is currently using it as a staging ground for his army of Guardians. The Guardians were peace-keeping weapons used by the Forerunners when they were maintaining the mantle of responsibility.” Locke took all this new information in, “Okay Sir, how can Osiris be of assistance?”

John nodded in approval, “We have made contact with Cortana and she can help us affect her extraction if we gain access to the Forerunner Domain within that building.” John gestured to the large structure behind them. “We’re going to need the additional firepower from your team to enable this, is that understood?” Locke placed his helmet firmly back on his head, “Yes Sir it is, we’ll follow your lead.”

Not long after they’d entered the gateway they’d found a relocation pad which linked to the Domain. As soon as they arrived John heard a familiar voice, “John, Blue team, is that you?” Kelly could sense John freezing slightly. “It’s us Cortana, we’ve brought along another Spartan fireteam and Exuberant. What do we need to do to get to you?” Just as Kelly finished speaking a platform materialised in front of them and a structure moved into place just off in the distance. “I guess we get on?” Said Fred, not entirely sure but more willing to make the guess than anyone else. They all stepped aboard and as soon as they had the platform headed for the structure.

As they arrived another familiar voice to John spoke, “I’m impressed that you’ve all made it this far. No matter, I shall swat you from existence like the rest of your retched kind soon enough.”  
“Was that the…” Linda started but John finished. “…The Diadact,” he spat, “and he knows we’re here. Move out Spartans, there’s a console at the top of this structure.” John dropped a nav marker on their HUD’s and they set off.

Prometheans started spawning in the area, “Chief, you and Blue team head for the console, Osiris will hold of the Prometheans.” A sound plan but they’d need more support than that, “Okay, Fred and Linda stay with Osiris and provide support. Locke I take it you’re aware of Fredrick 104’s rank and therefore the chain of command?” Locke’s green acknowledgement light flashed and they all set to eliminating the new threat.

John, Kelly and Exuberant headed straight for the console, “Okay Cortana, what do we do now?” Kelly turned to cover their rear whilst Cortana laid out instructions for John to enter into the console. “Now Exuberant I need you to give your clearance for the commands John has put in to free my locks and allow me out of here.” Exuberant seemed to dip slightly, “Alas I cannot, the Diadact has stripped me of my access and clearances.” Cortana almost cut her off, “I’ve managed to temporarily reinstate them but you have to be quick, I can only hide it from the Diadact for so long.”

Exuberant hummed and chittered as she accessed the relevant command directives and applied her approval. “Cortana, I don’t have a memory chip to download you onto. How are we going to get you out?” A sly chuckle emanated from Cortana, “That’s the thing though John, I don’t need one anymore.” John felt pressure on his left gauntlet and turned to bare the unknown with his rifle levelled but when he saw what was standing at the end of it he instantly dropped the rifle to his side. Stood before him was a completely real and physical version of Cortana. “I learned a few tricks whilst I was in there.” She said smiling gently back at John.

The sound of gunfire and Fred’s hurried comm burst snapped all four of them back into the moment. “John I don’t know how you’re getting on up there but we’re going to need to get out of here soon!” Cortana grabbed John and Kelly’s hands and pulled them back towards the rest of the Spartans, “Come on, I know how to stop the Diadact as well.”

As surreal as it was, they followed with Exuberant in tow behind them. As they entered the arena the others were fighting in Exuberant giggled and all the Prometheans phased out. “It appears my clearance has stayed, this does make things interesting again.” She turned to face Cortana, “I see your plan Cortana, very clever. The Diadact is currently upgrading the defence systems on the Guardians so as to make them impervious to any human attack, this however means that their cores are susceptible to rouge commands like if someone were to activate the self-destruct sequences.”

Cortana grinned, clearly pleased that her plan met with Exuberant’s approval, “You do realise that it means the destruction of Genesis and the gateway? No one will ever be able to access the Domain again?” Exuberant seemed to sigh, “I do, but the Diadact must be stopped. His forced meditation has done nothing to change his mind so our only option is to end him and his plans.”

John was glad the two AI’s agreed, but how were they going to get off the planet? “Do we have any extraction routes? The pelican we piggybacked your slipspace jump in didn’t survive the landing?” Asked one of the members of Osiris, she wore strong cream coloured armour and spoke with an accent only found in the outer colonies. “Well I do have this…” As Exuberant finished her statement what looked to be a Condor transport craft materialised.

The Spartans sprinted onto the Condor and fired up the retrofitted Shaw-Fujikawa drive. Whilst they were shooting towards the upper atmosphere a horde of Phaetons opened fire on them, “Cortana we kind of need that distraction now?” A small sun appeared behind them, then another and another. All the Guardians started to explode behind them, forming a horrific chain reaction that began to envelope the planet. “Cortana are we ready to jump?”  
“Entering coordinates and here we go!” The condor disappeared into slipspace as the planet erupted and catapulted fragments of itself throughout the system.

Not long after their return to the Infinity Blue team had been taken into custody only for them to be released owing to the small favour they’d just done humanity and Osiris’ testemony. Cortana was taken for a massive debriefing and to be checked over by ONI’s science department. Exuberant Witness was also taken in but after rapidly downloading all knowledge she contained she was allowed to re-join Kelly and Blue at Exuberant’s own request.

“So have you heard anything about Cortana?” Kelly asked as she played with John’s hair. He was laid between her legs in the middle of the II’s private quarters. “None yet but you know what ONI are like, even if they give her back we won’t know until she walks through the door.”

\------

Cortana walked through the door and found all of Blue team completing small tasks to their kit or uniforms. “Guess whose back?” They all leapt to their feet and rushed to greet her. They spent the next day catching up with Cortana and then had her explain that she was now similar to an android. She was made up of a synthetic material but with her downloaded conscience. The process the Diadact had completed had reset her digital lifespan and so Cortana would now be able to operate as if she’d just been created and had been assigned to be Blue team’s personal specialist. The synthetic material she was made of was almost impervious so they wouldn’t have to worry about her in the field.

Finally, John felt like Blue team was back up to full strength; and now with Cortana’s technical expertise everywhere with them, they would be a much more effective team. Exuberant was assigned to the Infinity as a permanent Forerunner liaison, thus enabling her to spend time with her favourite human. John soon got used to Exuberant following them everywhere and had one too many intimate moments ruined by the bobbing purple construct, but these were kinks that could be worked out. For now John just wanted some R&R with his new and improved Blue team.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't included too much of Osiris because I dislike them, this fic was more supposed to focus on Blue Team.


End file.
